Friday, April 26, 2013

There. I said it. And wow, does it feel good to get that off my chest?

Now that I've opened up about my feelings on the subject, I'm taking it one step further by, for the whole month of May, giving this blog a complete Star Wars makeover, with a new Star Wars related post each week! Because, let's face it, when it comes to Star Wars fan art, the internet is severely lacking!

Be sure to check back here on May the 4th (Star Wars Day!) for the first installment, and then continue to come back each week in May for more! PLUS, like me on Facebook for, you guessed it, EVEN MORE!

That's right, internet! I am a fan of an incredibly popular and hugely successful movie franchise… and I don't care who knows it!!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Last week, I started my little fan art project of putting a different spin on the characters of Ken Forsse's Teddy Ruxpin series. Next up is Teddy's best friend, Grubby.

Grubby is an octopede, an insect like creature with eight hands. Don't confuse him with an arachnid. Those have eight LEGS.

The original grubby walked on six of his hands and only used two of them to serve as actual hands. I thought it would be more fun, as well as more of a challenge, to have him use two pairs of hands to walk on and two pairs of hands for his finer motor skills. After all, what's the point of having a bunch of hands if you're only going to use just as many as any other Tom, Dick & Harriet? That would be like only using one tong on a fork!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Growing up, I was a fan of Ken Forsse's Teddy Ruxpin. I never had the famous talking doll or any of the storybooks, but I did have several of the Teddy Ruxpin toys, which my brothers and I played with quite a bit. The adventures we created with those things were probably way better than anything that was ever officially produced. I'm talking 'Shakespeare' good!

Like the time Grubby and Michelangelo had to rescue Boba Fett

with Bill and Ted's time-traveling phone booth!

As with most things from my childhood, Teddy Ruxpin has always kind of stuck around in the back of my mind. A while back, I tried re-imaginingthe characters as gritty sci-fi heroes, but I eventually tired of that and gave it up. It seems like everything's gritty these days.

For example, here's a screen grab from the new Shirt Tales reboot. What's up with that?!?

There's been a ton of cartoon reboots lately: Thundercats, My Little Pony, Scooby-Doo, Ninja Turtles... The list goes on and on. Some are good. Some are bad. The point is, the stars of my childhood are getting a second chance! And I say it's about time the spotlight shines back on everyone's favorite illiop! Yeah, that's right. Teddy's not even a bear! He's called an illiop! How nutty is that?

So if you'll indulge me while I do some wishful thinking, I thought it'd be fun to give Teddy and his friends my own new spin. Here's the first in this 'on-again off-again' lineup of mine: Teddy Ruxpin himself!

The original Teddy Ruxpin was too much of a "goody-goody" for my tastes. I wanted this version to show a little more mischievous spunk, but still have that same passion for adventure. Hopefully, all of you like it.

Your comments are well appreciated, and stay tuned as I post my further revamps of the Teddy Ruxpin characters. I might even come up with some new friends and foes for the beloved bear.

The joke is that this classic 'Indiana Jones' moment received the same Special Edition treatment as the classic 'Star Wars' moment when Han blasts Greedo in the Cantina. In other words, Indy waits for the Swordsman to attack first before he fires... because, you know, Indy is a nice guy and has impeccable dodging skills similar to his Far Away Galaxy counterpart, Han Solo.

So share this with all of those you know, informing them that this Special Edition is a reality, when in fact, it isn't. Because, THAT'S what this day is all about. Deception.